Group Project
WEEEK 1
Group Assignment 1
If only somebody would invent.
-Form a team of four to five people.
-Search for a problem, analyse it and use creativity tools to look for a possible solution to that problem.
-Develope the solution and show how it could be commercialised.
-Prepare and reharse a Pecha - Kucha presentation.
-Present your work on a power point.
WEEK 2
Team formation and completing Belbin inventory form
We have created a team of four people and our proposed team name is 3C. The team consists of the following people
1- Sekyewa John Bosco
2- Saad Saleem
3- Dominic Pearce
4- Dlamini Dizi Sakhiwo
Looking at team work and Belbin Group roles
Our team analysed the Belbin Group role principle to see how we can utelise it in allocating tasks.
Belbin Team Roles theory is used in organisations to identify people's behavioural strengths and weaknesses. It is aimed at
allocating people tasks within their area of strength.
It is assumed that people are more effective if given tasks within their skill set strength, they deliver to their maximum potential.
Working in groups on a project involves sharing resources and learned values in order to accomplish a given task.
Completing Belbin inventory forms and allocating tasks
Every team member in our group has filled in Belbin inventory forms and we have identified each individual's skill set.
It is on the basis of each team member's skill set that tasks will be allocated once a project has been agreed. Extended reading
on Belbin inventory is available in the weekly review section on this site.
Our Creativity Approach
In this project we have adapted innowiz four steps approach in order to kick start our creativity process and from this we will
find and select our project
-
problem definition (defining the task to be carried out, identifying search areas)
-
idea generation (use of different techniques i.e. Brainstorming, Mind Mapping, etc.) This is in week 2 & 3,
-
idea selection (Week 4, Selection of an idea from the great pile to focus on).
-
idea communication (Group discussion about the decided idea)
We have started searching for problem areas and below is a snap shot of the few ideas that we have generated.
1- As a new student how do you locate University resources, offices, labs, classes etc.
2- Student accommodation problem
3- How do you improve hospital waiting times?
4- Where do you get special need parenting advice?
5- How much calorie do you burn with each exercise?
6- Disabled children communication problem
7-Lack of consistent exercise program
8-Where can you find cheap holiday deals?
9- How can you track your pet if it goes missing?
10- How do you reduce time spent filling in paper work in hospitals
11- How do I remember my shopping list ?
12- How do I consistently have a balanced diet ? or How do I make a meal out of the ingredient I have.
13- How can we solve road car colission?
14- How can we resolve the problem of road traffic congestion?
WEEK 3
During this session we expanded the problem search area looking at other options that we had not touched. We have generated in excess of 50 ideas
As a team we have looked at each problem in greater details before making a final selection.
Idea selection and generating solutions steps
step 1:Choosing the problem to develope
The team agreed to carry out a secrete vote to try and find a single problem to develope
We have all agreed to develope Cars causing collission and the next step.
Step 2: Analysis of the selected problem in greater details:
The team studies the selected problem in greater details. And as a result we have put forward a plan of how to develope it.
Step 3: Generating possible solutions to the problem
After further analysis, we have started creativity process once again this time to look for possible solution to the selected problem (Cars Causing Collission).
Step 4: Analysing all generated possible solutions to the problem
After a thorough analysis of all the possible solutions the team has decided to hold aquick vote on the best solution.
And our chosen solution is a micro -car crass camera (named as CAMCRASH).
Step 5: Looking at ways of how to develope it
As a team we spent a bit of time trying to develope it using Autocad 3D software.
And we are all happy with the end results.
Week 7
Preparing a pecha kucha presentation and practising it, first as individual parts and later as a joint presentation. At first practice it looked to be a bit challenging being our first presentation most of us and atleast one team did not put his wait on this task. However with time things started improving between the rest of us on the team.
Week 8
Presentation week. Various teams have put up good peresentations and it was enjoyable to watch. I went in convinced that we had the best product but the competion was a bit high.
My feedback
Despite having a few problems here and there, it was a fantastic learning exercise and I have gained quiet a bit of skills and knowledge.
WEEK 9
Assignment 2
Business Model Canvas
- This is a team assignment worked on in teams of four to five. You should consider the Belbin team definitions to create your dream team.
- This assignment is intended to widen student's appreciation of the many business functions and, more critically, how they interact as part of the whole – how they work together. You will be relaying information in an innovative format called the Business Model Canvas.
Assignment Brief:
To choose a company related to student's undergraduate program. Research its business activities and based on the gathered information, draw up its business model canvas. The company should not be in excess of £5m turnover for manufacturing and £15m for a construction industry.
Group Formation
We have formed a group of five, it consist of the following people:
Mogahed Abubakr | Alejandro Williams | Suraj Suhang | Theodor Vararu | John Bosco Sekyewa
objectives of the project
The objective of this project is to produce a business model canvas
to be based on a business organisation of our choice.
Definition of business model canvas:
It is an entrepreneur tool that can be used to identifies the core
building blocks of a business enterprise; these include customer segments, customer
relationships, value propositions, channels, key resources, key activates, key partners,
cost structure and revenue stream.
Step 1:
Looking at team work and Belbin Group roles
Our team analysed the Belbin Group role principle to see how we can utelise it in allocating tasks.
Belbin Team Roles theory is used in organisations to identify people's behavioural strengths and weaknesses. It is aimed at
allocating people tasks within their area of strength.
It is assumed that people are more effective if given tasks within their skill set strength, they deliver to their maximum potential.
Working in groups on a project involves sharing resources and learned values in order to accomplish a given task.
Our team completed the Belbin forms and each individual's strength was identified and tasks allocated accordingly
Step 2:
Choosing a business enterprise to analyse
After a quick online search the team selected Snap.hr as the company to investigate. The team decided also to take another step further by arranging a meeting with the company CEO, this is to obtain a first-hand account on how the business operate. Snap.hr is an emerging recruitment company that links high quality software developers to companies. Its head offices are based in the city of London at WeWork Moorgate, 1Fore Street, EC2Y 5EJ. Snap.hr started trading in May 2015 and as a result has no published accounts available to evaluate its financial data.
Methodology of finding information:
Information is primarily to be sourced from the company website, an interview with the company CEO and any other sources. Each person on the team was tasked to draft questions in their assigned areas to ask the company CEO during the the visit to his offices in London. These questions where drafted into one document. We also ensured that all the areas where we need information is touched during the interview. The interview was recorded to make sure that information is not lost in the process. We made a copy available on our shared platform (Trello) for every team member to listen. This information formed the basis on which our model canvas was developed.
Agreed mode of collaboration on the project
The team agreed on a daily collaboration plan to exchange ideas and data with regard to the project. Trello (3) is a free online collaboration and organizational platform that we all signed up to as a team.This platform allowed us to work together remotely, exchange information, manage deadlines, perform micro and macro task management as well as track our overall project progress. As a result of using Trello, the team had been more productive and organised, participating in a regular and consistent day to day work flow. Each team member posted their work on their own ‘card’ that could be viewed by all other people on the team; this allowed us to work transparently, minimizing risk of overlap.
Results:
The team drew up a business model canvas along with this report outlining
our research process, along with accompanying material, such as the interview
transcript.